7/9/12

Mini Skirt Monday #119: Miniskirts Are Bad!

I find it fascinating how the miniskirt has continued to collide with the establishment over the decades. For some reason the mini is terrifying and threatening to large groups of our global population. It would seem that the simple act of hiking up a hemline a few inches throws the world into an absolute tizzy. The negative press varies from patronizing judgement to rabid condemnation. Let's look at a few, shall we?

The Free Lance Star - Aug. 8, 1967

Johannesburg, South Africa - Thousands of Natal Province miniskirted girls face jail because an 1880 law has never been repealed.

"I never know whether a policeman is looking at my knee or deciding whether I should be thrown in jail," wailed one teenager wearing a dress about four inches above the knee.

The Deseret News - June 29, 1973

Dear Abby,

My husband says I dress like a missionary and look like an old lady because I think short skirts, skintight clothes and bare bosom dresses look cheap on a woman my age. ( I am 45. So is he.)

Stanley also is crazy about miniskirts, hotpants and boots, and that's what he would like to have me wear. I positively refuse.

(Abby's response)
Dear NO: I think your taste in clothes is far superior to your husband's, and he is unreasonable. Stick to your guns.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Mar. 16, 1967

Newspaper pictures of the Reverend Denis Janney's shapely 28 year old wife in a skirt that ended six inches above her knees brought her a bunch of anonymous critical letters.

"We burned the letters," Mrs. Janney said.

"It's not their business what sort of skirt my wife wears, " committed her husband, whose parish is in southeast London. "It's this sort of intolerance which keeps many people from going to church."

Spokane Daily Chronicle - Mar. 2, 1970

Beverly Hills, Calif. - Complaints arose over the below-knee skirt length called "midi" but nobody did anything about it, until the ladies planned "POOFF Week".

"We're starting immediately to solicit signatures for a petition against the new, ugly, unfeminine fashions, especially the midi," say the ladies.

POOFF, which stands for Preservation of our Femininity and Finances, is the creation of two dozen women who live in and around Beverly Hills.

The Tuscaloosa News - July 12, 1966

There are buzzings of a mini-skirt rebellion among owners of the world's loveliest legs.

Most of the 57 girls vying for the Miss Universe crown put their foot down on the short, short skirt. Miss Panama, Dionisia Broce, was emphatic: "I wouldn't wear it if every other girl in the world wore it. You should hide your knees, which on most women are ugly."

The Miami News - Nov. 4, 1966

Officials at a New York high school say no to girls' short dresses but yes to boys' long tresses. the situation may make enemies of the mini-skirt and maxi-hair crowds.

About 500 girls at Great Neck North High School on Long Island have demanded that boys with long hair be banned from classes if the adminsitration does not lift its restrictions on above the knee skirts.

The Free Lance Star - Sept. 12, 1968

Despite the war, the rain and the weight of tradition, the "minijupe" - known most other places as the miniskirt - has arrived.

Saigon has spawned a generation of teenyboppers who cavort in the rain-splashed city streets in mod attire. They add brilliant splashes of color to the drab, war-tinted thoroughfares. But most Vietnamese males don't seem to approve. Expressing an Oriental distaste for exhibitionism, particularly when the prying eyes of foreigners are around, one writer to a Saigon newspaper said: "These children, these flowers would wilt without their marijuana. They are obscene."

St. Joseph News Press - Aug. 4, 1971

Vatican City - The nun assigned to the Vatican to guard St. Peter's Basilica from women in miniskirts was removed from her post today. The Vatican said Sister Fiorella was suffering from nervous exhaustion.

This last one is not so much controversial as it is snarky. I thought I'd throw it in for good measure.

The Calgary Herald - Aug. 24, 1966

A British suggestion that U.S. females shun short-short skirts because they have second-rate silhouettes Tuesday roused roars of resentment and reams of rebuttal.

"American women have such terrible figures. They are doing themselves a favor by keeping them covered up."

Mini skirts are bad, they are very bad. A young woman so attired shows off too much skin and that is bad. Bending over or sitting in an un lady like fashion can also allow her underwear to be exposed. This is bad, very bad. I think Mini Skirt mondays should be expanded to Mini Skirt every day of the week. That will remind us of how bad it is!

I remember a CoffeeMate commercial from the late 60s, where the attractive young woman is preparing to meet her future MIL, and she's standing in front of a mirror, and the voiceover, reflecting her thoughts is "Skirt's too short!" And being the hormonally-driven youth that I was, I said "No, it isn't!"

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